11:31 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Leaders of the clergy.  Distinguished guests.  Most importantly, the Carter family.

In April 2021, Jill and I visited Jimmy and Rosalynn on a warm spring day down in Plains, Georgia.  We wanted to see them.

Rosalynn met us at the front door with her signature smile.  Together, we entered a home that they had shared for almost 77 years of marriage — an unassuming red-brick ranch home that reflects their modesty more than any trappings of power.

We walked in the living room, where Jimmy greeted us like family.  That day, just the four of us sat in the living room and shared memories that spanned almost six decades.  A deep friendship that started in 1974.

I was a 31-year-old senator, and I was the first senator outside of Georgia — maybe the first senator — to endorse his candidacy for president.  It was an endorsement based on what I believe is Jimmy Carter’s enduring attribute: character.  Character.  Character.

Because of that — character, I believe, is destiny — destiny in our lives and, quite frankly, destiny in the life of the nation.

It’s an accumulation of a million things built on character that leads to a good life and a decent country — a life of purpose, a life of meaning.

Now, how do we find that good life?  What does it look like?  What does it take to build character?  Do the ends justify the means?

Jimmy Carter’s friendship taught me — and, through his life, taught me that strength of character is more than title or the power we hold.  It’s the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect — that everyone — and I mean everyone deserves an even shot — not a guarantee, but just a shot.

You know, we have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up to what my dad used to say is the greatest sin of all: the abuse of power.

Now, it’s not about being perfect because none of us are perfect.  We’re all fallible.  But it’s about asking ourselves: Are we striving to do things — the right things?  What values — what are the values that animate our spirit?  Do we operate from fear or hope, ego or generosity?  Do we show grace?  Do we keep the faith when it’s most tested?

For keeping the faith with the best of humankind and the best of America is a story, in my view, from my perspective, of Jimmy Carter’s life.  A story of a man — to state the obvious, you’ve heard today some great, great eulogies — who came from a house without running water or electricity and rose to the pinnacle of power.  A story of a man who was at once driven and devoted to making real the words of his Savior and the ideals of this nation.  A story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world.

The man had character.  Jimmy held a deep Christian faith in God and that his candidacy spoke and wrote about.  Faith as a substance of things hoped for and evidence of the things not seen.  Faith founded on commandments of Scripture: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy mind and all thy soul and love thy neighbor as thyself.  Easy to say, but very, very difficult to do.

In his life — in this life, any walk of faith can be difficult.  It can be lonely.  But it requires action to be the doers of the world.

But in that commandment lies the essence, in my view, found in the Gospel, found in many faith traditions, and found in the very idea of America.  Because the very journey of our nation is a walk of sheer faith to do the work, to be the country we say we are, to be the country we say we want to be.  A nation where all are created equal in the image of God and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.

We’ve never fully lived up to that idea of America.  But we’ve never walked away from it either, because of patriots like Jimmy Carter.

Throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God and of the people.

And today, many think he was from a bygone era.  But in reality, he saw well into the future.

A white Southern Baptist who led on civil rights.

A decorated Navy veteran who brokered peace.

A brilliant nuclear engineer who led on nuclear nonproliferation.

A hardworking farmer who championed conservation and clean energy.

And a president who redefined the relationship with the vice president.

Jimmy and I often talked about our dear friend Walter Mondale, whom we all miss very much.  Together, they formed a model partnership of collaboration and trust, as both were men of character.

And as we all know, Jimmy Carter also established a model post-presidency by making a powerful difference as a private citizen in America and, I might add, as you all know, around the world.

Through it all, he showed us how character and faith start with ourselves and then flows to others.  At our best, we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment — not for reward but in reverence for the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted.

To make every minute of our time here on Earth count, that’s the definition of a good life — a life Jimmy Carter lived during his 100 years.

To young people, to anyone in search of meaning and purpose, study the power of Jimmy Carter’s example.

I miss him, but I take solace in knowing that he and his beloved Rosalynn are reunited again.

And to the entire Carter family, thank you — and I mean this sincerely — for sharing them both with America and the world.  We love you all.

Jill and I will cherish our visits with them, including that last one in their home.  We saw Jimmy as he always was: at peace, with a life fully lived.  A good life of purpose and meaning, of character, driven by destiny and filled with the power of faith, hope, and love.  I’ll say it again: faith, hope and love.

As he returned to Plains, Georgia, for his final resting place, we can say goodbye.  In the words of the prophet Micah, who Jimmy so admired until his final breath, Jimmy Carter did justly, loved mercy, walked humbly.

May God bless a great American and a dear friend and a good man.  May he rise up — be raised up on eagle’s wings and bear you on the breath of dawn and make you to shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hand.

God bless you, Jimmy Carter.

11:42 A.M. EST

January 07, 2025

Remarks by Vice President Harris at the Lying in State Ceremony for Former President Jimmy Carter

Speeches and Remarks

U.S. Capitol

Washington, DC

5:20 P.M. EST

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Leader Thune, Speaker Johnson, Leader Schumer, Leader Jeffries, members of Congress, and distinguished guests, it is an honor to be with you this afternoon.

And to Jack, Chip, Jeff, Amy, and Jason and all the other members of the Carter family, on behalf of the American people, Doug and I offer our deepest condolences.

Being with you today, I am reminded of the enduring words of a favorite hymn: May the works I have done speak for me.

Today, we gather to celebrate the life of a man whose works will echo for generations to come, a man from Plains, Georgia, who grew up without electricity or running water and served as the 39th president of the United States of America and lived every day of his long life in service to the people: President James Earl Carter, Jr.

So, I was in middle school when Jimmy Carter was elected president, and I vividly recall how my mother admired him, how much she admired his strength of character, his honesty, his integrity, his work ethic and determination, his intelligence, and his generosity of spirit.

We have heard much today and in recent days about President Carter’s impact in the four decades after he left the White House.  Rightly so.  Jimmy Carter established a new model for what it means to be a former president and leaves an extraordinary post-presidential legacy, from founding the Carter Center, which has helped advance global human rights and alleviate human suffering, to his public health work in Latin America and Africa, to his tireless advocacy for peace and democracy around the globe.

And Jimmy Carter was a president of the United States who was ahead of his time.  He was the first president of the United States to have a comprehensive energy policy, including providing some of the first federal support for clean energy.  He also passed over a dozen major pieces of legislation regarding environmental protection and more than doubled the size of America’s national parks, including protecting our beloved Redwoods in my home state of California.

He was a president who, between the years of 1977 and 1981, appointed more Black Americans to the federal bench than all of his predecessors combined and appointed five times as many women.  And in the wake of Watergate, Jimmy Carter passed historic ethics legislation to help rebuild America’s faith in government.

Jimmy Carter, as president, was also a respected global leader.  To be sure, the years of his presidency were not without international crises or challenges, but his legacy of global leadership is well established.

In Asia, he instituted full diplomatic relations with China, which he would later call one of the most historically significant accomplishments of his presidency.

And his legacy lives on in the Middle East, because do recall in the decades before Jimmy Carter became president, Israel and Egypt had been at war numerous times.  Few thought peace could be achieved between them.  Yet Jimmy Carter did that.  Through his persistence and perseverance, through his unshakable belief in the power of American diplomacy, he secured the Camp David Accords, one of the most significant and durable peace treaties since World War II.

And throughout the world, Jimmy Carter elevated the role of human rights in America’s foreign policy priorities and uplifted the importance of civil society in doing that work.

Jimmy Carter was a forward-looking president with a vision for the future.  Consider his establishment of the Department of Energy in 1977, which anticipated the central role it would play in addressing the climate crisis; his creation of FEMA in 1979, which enabled our nation to mobilize a national response to disasters which has helped countless communities rebuild and recover; and his founding of the Department of Education later that year, which elevated public education institutions and increased national standards for the education of America’s children and future leaders.

Jimmy Carter was that all-too-rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty, and grace.  Recall the stories from the 1976 campaign about how he slept in the homes of his supporters to share a meal with them at their table and to listen to what was on their minds.

How, on their first trip for Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy and Rosalynn rode the bus with the other volunteers.  And when the group stopped for the night to stay at a local church, Jimmy and Rosalynn gave their private room to a young couple who had put off their honeymoon to join the trip.  And with the other volunteers, they then slept on the floor of the church basement.

And then, of course, his work to eradicate the vicious Guinea worm disease that once disabled millions of people a year.  It was one of the Carter Center’s greatest triumphs.  And Jimmy Carter, of course, given his nature, attributed its success not to his own leadership but to the thousands of everyday Africans who were on the ground doing the work.

Throughout his life and career, Jimmy Carter retained a fundamental decency and humility.  James Earl Carter, Jr., loved our country.  He lived his faith, he served the people, and he left the world better than he found it.

And in the end, Jimmy Carter’s work and those works speak for him louder than any tribute we can offer.

May his life be a lesson for the ages and a beacon for the future.

May God bless President Jimmy Carter.  And may God bless the United States of America.

                        END                     5:29 P.M. EST

# # #

U.S. Congressman Mike Johnson

Speaker Johnson Honors the Life and Legacy of President Jimmy Carter

Washington, January 7, 2025

WASHINGTON — Today, Speaker Johnson joined the Carter Family, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and millions of Americans across the country in honoring the life and legacy of America’s 39th President, Jimmy Carter. President Carter is only the 35th American leader to lie in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and the 13thPresident to do so.

Eulogizing President Carter at his state funeral today, Speaker Johnson said, “President Carter’s life, his selfless service, his fight against cancer, and his lasting contributions to his fellow man are all truly remarkable.”

Watch Speaker Johnson’s remarks here

Below is Speaker Johnson’s eulogy as delivered:

To the family, to Jack and Chip and Jeff and Amy, the entire Carter family, Vice President Harris, members of the Cabinet, Leader Thune, my colleagues in Congress and my fellow citizens. We meet in this sacred hall of self-government to honor an extraordinary man, a man who modeled the virtues of service and citizenship as well as any other American.

Surrounding us are the statues of those who gave their time, their energy, and their lives for the good of America. Before us, lays a man who now joins their midst, as a patriot, a veteran, a humanitarian, and the 39th president of the United States.

When Jimmy Carter walked out on the east front of the Capitol and took his oath of office, I was just four years old. He's the first president that I remember. Looking back, it's obvious now to me as an adult why he captured everyone's attention.

Jimmy Carter was a member of the greatest generation. He lived through the Great Depression and he did that on a farm in rural Georgia. He knew the value of a dollar and he modeled thrift his entire life. As long as he was in office, he hated government waste.

His father, an army veteran of the World War I era, taught patriotism to his children and eventually his son, this young man from Plains followed his father's example of self-sacrifice and he joined the Naval Academy in the middle of World War II.

In the Navy, Lieutenant Carter learned from the legendary Admiral Rickover to always do his best as he served on the first fleet of nuclear submarines. It's telling that today the USS Jimmy Carter, a top-secret attack submarine, now roams the oceans bearing the name of the only President who served in such close quarters.

President Carter's life, his selfless service, his fight against cancer, and his lasting contributions to his fellow man are all truly remarkable. Whether he was in the White House or in his post presidential years as was discussed, President Carter was willing to roll up his own sleeves to serve and get the job done.

We all know about his work with Habitat for Humanity, and the origin story goes that it was 1984 when he first became aware of the work, he was in New York for a friend's anniversary. Millard Fuller, the founder of the fledgling charity at the time, called President Carter and asked if he wanted to visit a site in Brooklyn during his trip.

President Carter agreed, and he found his way down to the Lower East Side. Standing on the roof of a dilapidated building, he looked out on the wealth of Wall Street to the south and to the power of Midtown Manhattan to the north.

And then he looked down and he saw an image he'd never forget, an elderly woman cooking breakfast over an open fire in the rubble of the building there in the heart of the richest city in the world.  

The Habitat for Humanity worker that was there with him turned to President Carter and said, if there's anything that you can do, we would take it. He said, if there's anything I can do, let me know. The worker said, well, maybe you can send some volunteer carpenters from your church.

It was the very next day that President Carter called Habitat for Humanity and told them he was going to send some carpenters all right, and that he himself would be one of them. And thus began his famous tradition of donating one week every year to build and restore homes for his fellow Americans.

It's remarkable to think that one of the 45 men who has served as President and one of the only 13 who held the role in nuclear age, would humble himself to such service. We all know that his care for humanity didn't stop at building homes.

In the face of illness, President Jimmy Carter brought lifesaving medicine. In the face of conflict, he brokered peace. In the face of discrimination, he reminded us that we are all made in the image of God. And if you were to ask him why he did it all, he would likely point to his faith.

I'm reminded of his admonition to live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon, and of his amazing personal reflection: “If I have one life and one chance, to make it count for something,” We all agree that he certainly did.

So today in these hallowed halls of our republic, we honor President Carter, his family, and his enduring legacy that he leaves. Not only upon this nation, but upon the world.

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